Lost in Limbo
by pinkrockpunkcess
Summary: Just a little oneshot I felt like writing, including two souls lost in limbo.


**Hey guys, just a little Cole/Chris oneshot I felt like writing. I guess it could be seen as a prequel to my main story but it doesn't have to be. By the way, if I actually have any readers of 'Blast from the Past' left hehe sorry! An update should be making it's way to you in the near future. Anyway, enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Charmed, if I did several (hundreds) of things wouldn't have happened.**

Lost in Limbo

The pain was unbearable; whatever magic Gideon had used on that athame it hurt like a bitch. _Some kind of dark lighter poison probably. Wouldn't put it past the bastard to be working with them_. He had felt himself fading away, his spirit being pulled from his body and then, finally, his body giving up the ghost (_No pun intended, god I never realised I was so funny_) as he closed his eyes on his distraught father and aunt for the last time and let destiny take him away.

_But away to where? _The soft bed had been replaced by hard floor and for a moment he thought he was back in the attic, Gideon looming over him, Wyatt crying in the background…

"No!" Jerking up Chris snapped his eyes open and looked wildly around. White, everything was white. This_ is heaven? _he thought rather incredulously, he'd always expected the 'real' heaven to be more like 'Up There'; fluffy clouds and dead family members greeting him at the Pearly Gates. Now, chest heaving in a confused panic he…wait. His eyes widened as he patted his hands over himself, gasping as he reached his stomach. No sticky blood, no hole in his side from the athame, hell, not even a hole in his shirt! He was corporeal and, even more surprising, he was breathing. Well, it felt like he was breathing. In, out, in out. And, apparently, his voice worked. "D-dad?"

"Who the hell are you?"

The abrupt, angry voice that definitely did not belong to Leo Wyatt made Chris start in surprise, his clear green eyes darting around in the direction of the strange and yet strangely familiar voice until, skidding around on his backside he faced a tall, dark-haired man whose eyes seemed to pierce Chris' very soul. _Do I still have a soul?_

"I said, who the _hell_ are you?"

Before Chris could reply he was hauled by his shirt up to his feet and with a yell of, "Hey!" he grabbed his assailant's hands and tried to pull them away, finally looking fully into the face of the man attacking him and gasping, eyes wide but no longer in fear. More like surprise, recognition even?

"_Cole Turner_?" With a grunt Cole dropped the boy again, pushing a hand back through his untidy hair and fixing Chris with a glare as he stumbled to his feet, eyeing the older man. "Wow you look like crap."

"I won't ask again," the ex demon/Source/Avatar growled and Chris winced a little, holding his hands up in something of a 'chill out' gesture whilst doing a quick calculation in his head. Oh, now it made sense.

"Okay I'm sorry," he said shaking his head and lowering his hands, "Just I'm a little jumpy, y'know after just dying and all." Looking around Chris let out a low whistle. "So…this is Limbo huh?" As Cole opened his mouth the Halliwell held up his hands again with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, sorry. I'm Chris by the way." Then, with something of a smirk he added. "Pleased to meet you."

"Chris what?" Cole asked, folding his arms in an agitated manner across his chest, "Or is it like Madonna? And where did you come from? How do you know me?"

"How do I know you?" With a bark of laughter Chris shook his head. "You're a legend, everyone knows about you." When Cole raised a somewhat sceptical eyebrow however Chris cleared his throat. "In the future I mean, which is where I'm from. Well, not recently. Recently I'm from the now." Vaguely he wondered how much he should really tell Cole, though by the look he was getting, well, he realised it was going to be a lot. Within reason of course. "Is there somewhere I can sit down to explain all this? I feel a little woozy."

As Cole regarded the young man in front of him something tugged at his subconscious. There was an air of familiarity about this 'Chris', though he'd never met anyone of that name in his life. Besides, he never had any visitors in this Hell apart from the one Elder whom had taken him there in the first place; he could use a little conversation. "Sure, why not." Gesturing behind him Chris glanced over Cole's shoulder to see a bed and desk, both white of course. "Elder conjured them for me," Cole said by way of explanation, "When I got here. Apparently it was meant to make me feel better."

"Couldn't conjure you a sink and razor though huh?"

There was something in the retort that made Cole rub his overgrown stubble somewhat self-consciously as he watched Chris go past him, his eyes following him as he went and sat down on the bed. He sounded just like…_Don't go there, Turner. It'll drive you crazier than you already feel_. He followed Chris over, perching himself on the edge of the desk as he eyed the boy. "Explain."

Looking up at him Chris had to suppress the smile, it wouldn't be entirely appropriate. "I can't explain everything," he said shaking his head, "Future consequences."

"Future consequences?" Cole scoffed, shaking his head. "You're a whitelighter aren't you." When Chris quirked a querying eyebrow Cole shook his head. "Only a whitelighter would come up with some crap like that as an excuse. Believe me, I've known a few." 'Oh'ing quietly (and briefly wondering whether he was including Leo in that little assumption) Chris nodded, then shrugged casually.

"Well, I guess you're right," he said, "I am…was…a whitelighter." No need to tell him the rest of his ancestry; that would be a dead (_Again, no pun intended, geez…)_

giveaway after all.

"And you're from the future?" Cole asked, eliciting a nod from Chris, "Right. Why? As in why did you come back from the future and, apparently, die? And, why do I need to worry about 'future consequences' when I'm going to be stuck in this Hell for the rest of my afterlife?" It was at that moment that Chris really saw the 'attorney at law' in Cole, though of the course the slightly less-than-sane twinkle in his clear grey-green eyes was a little unnerving.

"Wow, that's a lot of questions," was Chris' reply as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to piece together in his mind what he could actually tell Cole, "How about I start at the beginning?"

* * *

"Come on, come on, come on…"

Chris paced impatiently, head down staring at the white floor as he waited. Waited, waited, waited. God it felt like he'd been waiting for days but, then again, maybe he just hadn't got used to the whole lack of time thing in Limbo yet.

"It can't take this long!"

Plopping down on the bed the dark haired former witch-lighter pushed the balls of his hands against his forehead, legs bent over the side. He had _told_ him this wouldn't be a good idea, that he was risking too much, that his mother (of course he didn't call her his mother; Cole still wasn't privy to that little tidbit of info, even though he had his suspicions) wouldn't exactly be receptive to seeing him. Oh, and the whole _almost killing her_ thing; Chris had been very against that. But, as usual, the ex demon lawyer had won and begrudgingly Chris had watched him fade away. And he had been pacing ever since.

"That went well."

The deep, somewhat cocky voice of Cole Turner snapped Chris up from his position on the bed and he glared at the older man.

"You said you'd be back ages ago!" he cried, "What happened? What did you do?" Rolling his eyes Cole just crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head.

"Exactly what I said I'd do," he replied, "And no, I didn't try to make contact with her. Although I think she felt me." He shook his head. "I only spoke to Piper. She wasn't that happy to see me…" At the 'told you so' look Chris flashed him Cole rolled his eyes again. "Anyway, I haven't looked in on them but if I know Leo and Piper as well as I know I do, they're perfectly fine." Seeing the relief in the young man's eyes made Cole narrow his own a little. "Y'know Chris, one day you're going to tell me who you really are."

"And that day isn't today," Chris smirked in reply, pushing himself up and shoving his hands in his pockets, "So…can I come with you?"

"No." Cole shook his head, uncrossing his arms and for the first time Chris realised he had put on a suit to go and see Piper; someone was definitely aiming to impress. He couldn't believe how far Cole had come in the past six or so months that they had spent together in Limbo. He had shaved, cut his hair, lost that 'I'm a crazy man hear me roar' glint in his eye. _If only aunt Phoebs could see him now…_

"Wait, no? Why not?" Chris frowned, "Can't you even tell me who your meeting's with?" Shaking his head Cole made as if looking at his watch, non-existent obviously seeing as time didn't exist.

"Sorry, gotta go." Smirking he made a show of waving to Chris before fading away, much to the young man's chagrin.

"You never change," he murmured shaking his head and stretching. Glancing around himself (he wasn't sure what for) Chris took a deep breath then closed his eyes. Instantly he was in his parents' bedroom, invisible to the occupants. His mother had obviously just woken up but his father, he looked more awake than ever.

"Um, I was thinking maybe pancakes and eggs," Leo said and Chris smiled as Piper chuckled, "How about you?"

"Sounds normal," she replied and as they kissed Chris' smile grew and he shook his head.

"I love you guys," he murmured, watching as they got up to go and do breakfast for his younger self and Wyatt. He would definitely have to thank Cole for teaching him how to do this, just seeing Piper and Leo so happy made Chris' time in Limbo all seem worth it. Sighing he closed his eyes as if to fade back to Limbo but stopped, a small smirk tugging at his lips and instead he was in the attic. Along with Cole he had watched over this room many times before, watching the sisters in their vanquishes and checking up on them. Now though, all alone, Chris couldn't help the chill that went down his spine as his eyes instantly went to the spot where Gideon had stabbed him, effectively ending his life. The Halliwell shuddered and was about to leave when Phoebe entered the room and he stopped, watching his aunt.

Phoebe wasn't entirely sure _why_ she was in the attic. She had resolved to go straight to bed after her conversation with Drake and just sleep; being awake meant coming to terms with the fact that she would never see him again, that he really had died. He had been right, no matter how much Phoebe hadn't wanted to open her heart to love again she _had_ loved Drake. A tear trickled down her cheek and the middle Halliwell strode purposefully towards the Book of Shadows, seemingly unaware that she was being watched. Taking it from it's pedestal she went and sat on the small attic sofa, a pen in her hand. She had resolved to dedicate a page in the ancient tome about a Mr Drake De'Mon, feeling it would be a fitting way to remember him. Perhaps she could convince Piper and Paige to light a candle for him too a bit later. Finding a crisp, clean page she started writing.

Chris moved a little closer to his aunt as she wrote, being careful not to get too close however. Cole had said something about her feeling him and Chris was well aware of Phoebe's empathic powers. Seeing what she was writing however he frowned a little. _Drake De'Mon was a demon for hundreds of years, until he met with a sorcerer who granted him mortality for just one year. During this time Drake dedicated his life to good and even became a teacher at Magic School. He died tonight after giving me three of the best weeks of my life. I fell in love with him, that ex-demon, Shakespeare extraordinaire…_ Suddenly she stopped and Chris saw her eyes go back to the line she had just written, lingering on itHe frowned, starting a little when he heard a sob escape her throat and harshly she scribbled out the last part of the sentence, replacing it with, _I still love him, no matter how much I tell myself I shouldn't, I can't. Why did he have to leave me? What did I do to deserve so much damn hurt and heartbreak!_ And suddenly, she wasn't writing about Drake anymore.

Straightening up Chris (metaphorically) felt his heart tug at his aunt's sobs, tears falling down her cheeks. Shaking his head he sighed, biting on his bottom lip. _Don't do it, you told him not to interfere so don't you dare! This might not be how it was meant to work out. Future consequences, future consequences!_ Taking a deep breath Chris closed his eyes, holding out a hand. Flicking his wrist the pages of the Book suddenly started turning, making Phoebe gasp in surprise. As soon as Chris opened his eyes again they stopped, a drawing of Belthazar and the many pictures of Cole Phoebe had stuck around it staring back at the empathic witch.

"Oh Cole…"

Fresh tears trickled down her cheeks onto the worn page as she lightly stroked Cole's smiling face, shaking her head as if trying to shake away the memories.

"I still love you so much…"

Chris swallowed the lump in his throat as his aunt sobbed about the love she had lost; her soul mate she thought was gone forever, lost from her reach but never from her heart. _If only she knew…_

"He still loves you too, aunt Phoebs," he murmured, knowing she couldn't hear her but he had to say something, anything, "He always will. And…you'll see him again. I promise." Sighing the young Halliwell bowed his head, tears filling his own eyes as he pinched them closed, fading out of the attic and back to the white wasteland of Limbo, unaware of the final whispered words of his aunt before she closed the Book and wiped her eyes, a small smile lighting her flushed, tear-stained face.

"I know I will."

**The dialogue between Piper and Leo came from a script of 'Seven Year Witch'. Please review!**


End file.
